Nearly three years ago my life was changed forever, my mam was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.My mam had put a tiny bit of weight on around her tummy which she was adament she would lost with the help of a personal trainer. When this didnt work and she had further problems with bloating and a loss of appetite it was time to go to the doctors to get checked out. Within a week our worst fears were confirmed when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. My mam however remained confident that she would do whatever she had to, to defeat this disease and she did so with a smile on her face and a positive attitude.

Her illness was an uphill struggle from the start, with battles with medical staff and complications occuring after surgery, however this never fazed my mam. Even when she was going under the anaesthetic before her five hour surgery to remove the ovarian tumor, when asked to think about happy things she told the anaesthetist she was thinking about her gorgeous grandsons and fell under smiling!

Following surgery the next step was to start chemo. After my mams first round of chemo she developed an infection and was rushed to hospital by ambulance where she stayed for 10 days yet this only made her more determined to carry on battling. Even losing her hair wasnt an issue and she decided to shave all of her hair off before it had even started to properly drop out. The first round of chemo was unsuccesful and after a two month break she underwent another round. This too was unsuccesfull. No matter how hard we fought the cancer and tried to stay positive the cancer was still there. We decided as a family that my mam needed a break to build herself back up both mentally and physically before she put herself through any more treatment. On returning from a break in Dubai my mam was rushed to hospital where we found that she had an infection within her tummy, however this time it wasnt treatable. We were told that we only had days left with my mam. This is the worst news anyone could ever hear and the reason why I am going to run the great north run to raise money for cancer research. I want to help stop cancer and anyone else having to hear those devastating words. My mam was a brave fighter and an inspirational, strong, beautiful woman and she will be the one keeping me going until I cross that finish line on September 16th. I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me to help others who are fighting cancer and try and prevent someone else losing a loved one.